It is surprising to learn how word meanings change from good to bad over time; for example, Jonah is the name of a prophet in the Bible, and in the slang usage in 1950s, it was used to refer to a calm and decent man, and now in the present usage, it is used to refer to an unfortunate man who is accused of bringing bad luck to himself and to the others he’s with.

Because of a few unfortunate incidents, Roger and Sue have become well-known jonahs in our group, and so nobody likes to pair with them while playing games.

A very popular actress was labelled as the modern day female jonah after the chiefs of three of the most popular political parties who wanted her to join their parties for some publicity met with very unfortunate fate: after her joining the first party, the chief was killed in a helicopter accident, and when she joined the second party, there was a terrorist attack on the chief in which he narrowly escaped death and, even before joining, the third one was unceremoniously thrown into jail on changes of corruption!